Mahindra and Mahindra at PPFCF

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Mahindra and Mahindra Limited (M&M) is among the recurring domestic equity holdings of the Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund (PPFCF). The position has appeared in PPFCF factsheet portfolio listings across multiple disclosure cycles, alongside Maruti Suzuki at PPFCF, ICICI Bank at PPFCF, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Holdings at PPFCF and other long-running Indian anchors that the PPFAS Mutual Fund team has held through multiple cycles.

The Mahindra and Mahindra thesis combines several elements of the broader PPFAS investment philosophy. First, utility-vehicle leadership: M&M is among the top three SUV makers in India, with strong franchises in the Bolero, Scorpio, XUV and Thar nameplates. Second, tractor-segment dominance: Mahindra is India’s largest tractor manufacturer with significant rural-economy exposure. Third, conglomerate-discount opportunity through M&M’s holdings in listed subsidiaries (Mahindra Lifespace, Mahindra Logistics, Mahindra Holidays, Tech Mahindra and others). Fourth, disciplined valuation-driven entry that has produced multi-period holding patterns rather than short-term trades.

The position is also a useful illustration of PPFAS value investing applied to an Indian conglomerate with operational complexity. M&M’s auto and farm-equipment business is cyclical and has been challenged in particular phases by SUV competition (Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Hyundai, Kia) and tractor demand swings tied to rural sentiment. PPFAS’s willingness to look through these cycles and focus on long-term competitive position has supported continued holding.

This article documents Mahindra and Mahindra’s role in PPFCF: the company background, the investment thesis articulated by Rajeev Thakkar and the fund team, the position history across multiple factsheet cycles, recent positioning, and the comparison with peer holdings.

Company background

Mahindra and Mahindra Limited was incorporated on 2 October 1945 as Mahindra and Mohammed by brothers K.C. Mahindra and J.C. Mahindra along with Malik Ghulam Mohammed. After Partition in 1947 and the departure of Malik Ghulam Mohammed to Pakistan, the company was renamed Mahindra and Mahindra in 1948. The company started as a steel-trading firm and then moved into utility-vehicle assembly through a tie-up with Willys Overland Corporation to assemble Jeeps in India.

Mahindra and Mahindra is the listed flagship of the Mahindra Group, one of India’s largest conglomerates. The group operates across automobiles, farm equipment, information technology (Tech Mahindra), financial services (Mahindra Finance), real estate (Mahindra Lifespace), hospitality (Club Mahindra), logistics (Mahindra Logistics), defence, aerospace and others. M&M itself focuses on the automotive and farm-equipment segments while holding strategic stakes in many group companies.

The company’s product portfolio in automobiles spans utility vehicles (Bolero, Scorpio, Scorpio-N, XUV300, XUV400, XUV700, Thar), light commercial vehicles (Bolero Pickup, Jeeto) and an evolving electric-vehicle portfolio (BE 6e, XEV 9e and others under the Mahindra Electric Originated platform). In farm equipment, Mahindra is India’s largest tractor manufacturer with brands such as Mahindra, Swaraj, Trakstar, Yuvraj and Jivo.

The company’s equity shares are listed on the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange and are constituents of the Nifty 50 and the Sensex. The official corporate website is mahindra.com. The registered office is at Worli, Mumbai.

For Indian retail investors, exposure to M&M is straightforward through direct equity purchase on the NSE/BSE or through diversified equity mutual fund schemes. PPFCF’s exposure delivers indirect ownership through a SEBI Mutual Funds Regulations 1996 registered scheme.

Investment thesis at PPFCF

The PPFAS thesis on Mahindra and Mahindra has been articulated across monthly factsheets and at the PPFAS Annual Unitholders Meet. The argument rests on several pillars.

First, PPFAS margin of safety. M&M’s cyclical exposure to auto and farm-equipment demand produces periodic compression in price-to-earnings multiples. The team has typically entered or added to the position during such compression windows.

Second, utility-vehicle franchise. The Bolero, Scorpio and Thar nameplates command brand loyalty in the SUV and utility-vehicle segments. The XUV700 launch in 2021 and subsequent introductions of the Scorpio-N and Thar 5-door have helped reinvigorate the product portfolio. The company has been growing SUV market share alongside Tata Motors and Hyundai.

Third, tractor-segment dominance. Mahindra is India’s largest tractor manufacturer with brands across price points (Mahindra premium, Swaraj mass-market, Trakstar/Yuvraj entry). Tractor demand is tied to rural sentiment, monsoon patterns and agricultural commodity prices, but the long-term growth trajectory of Indian agriculture supports the franchise.

Fourth, the conglomerate ecosystem. M&M holds strategic stakes in Tech Mahindra (an Indian-IT-services major), Mahindra Finance (a leading rural NBFC), Mahindra Lifespace (real estate), Mahindra Holidays (vacation ownership) and other listed subsidiaries. While M&M does not provide a clean holding-company-discount structure, the group’s diversification supports the broader investment case.

Fifth, the electric-vehicle transition. M&M’s EV strategy, anchored by the BE platform and the Mahindra Electric Originated lineup, has been a recurring topic in PPFCF factsheet commentary. The team has argued that Mahindra’s SUV brand strength and its established distribution can support competitive positioning in the EV transition.

Sixth, PPFAS focused portfolio discipline. M&M meets the team’s quality bar through its market position, brand strength and balance-sheet management.

Position history

Mahindra and Mahindra has appeared in PPFCF disclosures across multiple periods. The position has been mentioned in PPFCF factsheet portfolio listings as one of the recurring Indian holdings, alongside Maruti Suzuki, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Holdings, Hero MotoCorp and others.

Through the 2018 to 2022 window the position fluctuated with auto-sector cycles, especially during the COVID-19 demand contraction and the subsequent semiconductor supply-chain disruption. The February 2022 SEBI MF overseas investment cap freeze created a structural pivot in which domestic positions received continued allocations.

By 2025 and into 2026 the position continued as a periodic significant holding within the broader PPFCF portfolio, though it did not enter the top three (which by April 2026 was HDFC Bank at PPFCF, Power Grid Corporation at PPFCF and Coal India at PPFCF).

Recent positioning

The April 2026 factsheet, with PPFCF AUM at Rs 1,40,949 crore (up 9.29 per cent month-on-month from Rs 1,28,966 crore in March 2026), continued to include Mahindra and Mahindra within the recurring domestic holdings list. The May 2026 commentary on PPFCF carrying around 18 to 22 per cent in PPFAS cash holdings reflected broader valuation caution, but M&M has remained one of the long-running positions of the consumer-discretionary sleeve.

In monthly factsheet commentary, Rajeev Thakkar and Neil Parag Parikh have referenced M&M’s SUV market-share gains, the tractor franchise and the EV transition as supports for continued holding.

Comparison with peer holdings

Within PPFCF’s consumer-discretionary cluster, Mahindra and Mahindra sits alongside Maruti Suzuki at PPFCF and (in earlier periods) Hero MotoCorp. Compared with Maruti Suzuki, M&M offers higher utility-vehicle and SUV exposure rather than passenger-vehicle volume hatchback exposure. M&M also provides tractor and farm-equipment exposure that Maruti does not.

Compared with Bajaj Holdings at PPFCF, which provides indirect exposure to Bajaj Auto’s two-wheeler and three-wheeler franchise plus Bajaj Finserv’s financial services, M&M offers direct conglomerate exposure with strategic stakes in listed subsidiaries (Tech Mahindra, Mahindra Finance).

Compared with international anchors Alphabet at PPFCF, Microsoft at PPFCF, Amazon at PPFCF and Meta Platforms at PPFCF, M&M provides rupee-denominated cyclical exposure that complements the dollar-revenue growth franchises of the foreign sleeve.

Within the broader PPFAS focused portfolio framework, M&M is grouped with ITC at PPFCF, the technology cluster, the banking cluster (HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank at PPFCF) and the PSU contrarian positions as anchor Indian holdings.

Context within PPFCF

PPFCF was launched on 24 May 2013 as Parag Parikh Long Term Value Fund (PPLTVF), renamed Parag Parikh Long Term Equity Fund on 16 February 2018 and renamed Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund on 13 January 2021. The scheme is benchmarked against the Nifty 500 TRI and has delivered a compound annual growth rate since inception of approximately 19.06 per cent against a category average of 15.22 per cent and the Nifty 500 TRI at 12.4 per cent. AUM crossed Rs 1 lakh crore in May 2025, making PPFCF the first active equity mutual fund scheme in India to do so, and rose to roughly Rs 1.6 lakh crore by 15 May 2026.

The fund is managed by Rajeev Thakkar along with Raunak Onkar, Raj Mehta, Rukun Tarachandani and other team members. Parag Parikh, the founder of the Parag Parikh Financial Advisory Services Limited sponsor entity, established the investing house in 1979 and incorporated PPFAS Ltd in December 1992. The mutual fund was set up with SEBI on 10 October 2012 under registration ID MF/069/12/01.

Mahindra and Mahindra has been a recurring topic at the PPFAS Annual Unitholders Meet. The 12th edition was held on 22 November 2025 at Birla Matushree Sabhaghar in Mumbai.

See also

External references

References

  1. PPFAS Mutual Fund, October 2025 factsheet, amc.ppfas.com.
  2. PPFAS Mutual Fund, March 2026 factsheet, amc.ppfas.com.
  3. INDmoney, “PPFAS Flexi Cap April 2026 portfolio update,” indmoney.com.
  4. Angel One, “Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund crosses one lakh crore AUM,” angelone.in.
  5. Business Today, May 2026 cash commentary, businesstoday.in.
  6. Mahindra and Mahindra Limited, Annual Report 2024-25, mahindra.com.
  7. Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) sector statistics.

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